The Greville Memoirs (Second Part) A Journal of the Reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1852 (Volume 1 of 3)

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Title: The Greville Memoirs (Second Part)

A Journal of the Reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1852

(Volume 1 of 3)

Author: Charles C. F. Greville

Release Date: February 3, 2008 [EBook #24504]

Language: English

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Transcriber’s Note:

In this work, all spellings and punctuation were reproduced from the original work except in the very few cases where an obvious typo occurred. These typos are corrected without comment.

In the original volumes in this set, each even-numbered page had a header consisting of the page number, the volume title, and the chapter number. The odd-numbered page header consisted of the year of the diary entry, a subject phrase, and the page number. In this set of e-books, the year is included as part of the date (which in the original volume were in the form reproduced here, minus the year). The subject phrase has been converted to sidenotes located below the relevant page number.

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The Greville Memoirs

(SECOND PART)

A JOURNAL OF THE REIGN

OF

QUEEN VICTORIA

FROM 1837 TO 1852

BY THE LATE

Charles C. F. Greville, Esq.

CLERK OF THE COUNCIL

IN THREE VOLUMES — VOL. I.

LONDON

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.

1885

CONTENTS.

INDEX.

‘PLERAQUE EORUM, QUÆ RETULI QUÆQUE REFERAM, PARVA FORSITAN ET LEVIA MEMORATU VIDERI, NON NESCIUS SUM; SED NEMO ANNALES NOSTROS CUM SCRIPTURA EORUM CONTENDERIT, QUI VETERES POPULI ROMANI RES COMPOSUERE. INGENTIA ILLI BELLA, EXPUGNATIONES URBIUM, FUSOS CAPTOSQUE REGES, AUT, SI QUANDO AD INTERNA PRÆVERTERENT, DISCORDIAS CONSULUM ADVERSUM TRIBUNOS, AGRARIAS FRUMENTARIASQUE LEGES, PLEBIS ET OPTIMATIUM CERTAMINA, LIBERO EGRESSU MEMORABANT. NOBIS IN ARTO ET INGLORIUS LABOR.... NON TAMEN SINE USU FUERIT, INTROSPICERE ILLA, PRIMO ADSPECTU LEVIA, EX QUIS MAGNARUM SÆPE RERUM MOTUS ORIUNTUR.’

TACITUS, Ann. iv. cap. 32.

PREFACE

OF THE EDITOR

TO THE SECOND PART OF THIS JOURNAL.

When the first portion of the Memoirs of the late Mr. Charles Greville, consisting of a Journal of the Reigns of King George IV. and King William IV., was given to the world in the autumn of the year 1874, it was intimated that the continuation of the work was reserved for future publication. Those volumes included the record of events which Mr. Greville had noted in his Diary from the year 1818 to the accession of Her Majesty Queen Victoria in the year 1837, a period of nineteen years. As they were published in 1874, an interval of thirty-seven years had elapsed between the latest event recorded in them and the date at which they appeared. The reigns of George IV. and William IV. already belonged to the history of the past, and accordingly I did not conceive it to be my duty to suppress or qualify any of the statements or opinions of the Author on public men or public events. I am still of opinion that this was the right course for a person charged with the publication of these manuscripts to pursue. I have seen it stated that the first edition of these Journals contains passages which have been suppressed in the later editions: but this is an error. The first edition contained a good many mistakes, which were subsequently pointed out by criticism, or discovered and corrected. Two or three sentences relating to private individuals were omitted, but nothing which concerns public personages or public events has been withdrawn.

Eight and forty years have now elapsed since the date at which the narrative contained in the former volumes was suspended, and I am led by several considerations to the opinion that the time has arrived when it may be resumed. We are divided by a long interval from the administrations of Lord Melbourne, Sir Robert Peel, and Lord John Russell, and, with a very small number of exceptions, no one survives who sat in the Cabinets of those statesmen. Nearly half a century has elapsed since the occurrence of the events recorded in the earlier pages of these volumes, and in a few months from the publication of them, the nation and the empire may celebrate with just enthusiasm the jubilee of the reign of Queen Victoria. Those who have had the good fortune to witness this long series of events, and to take any part in them, may well desire to leave behind them some record of a period, unexampled in the annals of Great Britain and of the world for an almost unbroken continuance of progress, prosperity, liberty, and peace. It is not too soon to glean in the records of the time those fugitive impressions which will one day be the materials of history. To us, veterans of the century, life is in the past, and we look back with unfading interest on the generations that have passed away.

As far as I am myself concerned, I am desirous to complete, whilst I am able, the task allotted to me by Mr. Greville in his last hours, which indeed I regard as a sacred duty, since I know that in placing these Journals in my hands his principal motive and intention was that they should not be withheld from publication until the present interest in them had expired. The advance of years reminds me that if this duty is to be performed at all by me, it must not be indefinitely delayed, and if any strictures are passed on the Editor of these volumes, I prefer to encounter them in my own person rather than to leave the work in other hands and to the uncertainty of the future.

If I turn to precedent and the example of other writers, it will be found that the interval of time which has elapsed since the latest date included in these volumes, embracing the period from 1837 to 1852, is considerably greater than that which marked the publication of similar contributions to political history[1]. At the head of these must be placed Bishop Burnet’s ‘History of His Own Time.’ Bishop Burnet had lived in confidential relations with four Sovereigns and their Ministers, and it would be a mistake to compare the position of Mr. Greville (who never filled any office of a political nature, and who never lived in confidential intercourse with the Court) with that of the bold adviser of Charles II. and James II., and the trusted councillor of William and Mary. Bishop Burnet finished his history of the reigns of Charles II. and James II. about the year 1704; that of William and Queen Anne between 1710 and 1713. In 1714 he died. The first folio containing the earlier reigns was published by his son in 1724; the second in 1734, barely twenty years after the death of Queen Anne. Many passages were, however, suppressed, and the text was not restored in its integrity until the publication of the Oxford edition in the present century.

[1] To look back as far as the Memoirs of the fifteenth century, it may be noted that the first edition of the Memoirs of Philippe de Comines, who had lived in the confidential intimacy of King Louis XI. and King Charles VIII. of France, was published in Paris in 1524, under a special privilege obtained for that purpose. Louis XI. died in 1483, and his son Charles VIII. in 1498. Comines himself died in 1511. These Memoirs, therefore, were published at a time when many of the persons mentioned in them, and most of their immediate descendants, were still alive.

Lord Clarendon died in 1674, and the first edition of his ‘History of the Rebellion and the Civil Wars’ was published in 1702-4, with some alterations and omissions, which were supplied by the publication of the complete text in 1826.

Lord Chesterfield died in 1773, and his ‘Letters to his Son,’ a work abounding in keen and sarcastic observations on his contemporaries, were published in the following year, 1774.

Sir Nathaniel Wraxall’s ‘Memoirs,’ which contain the best account extant of the debates at the time of the Coalition Ministry in 1783, and on the Regency Question in 1788, were published in 1815, about thirty years after those discussions.

But it is scarcely necessary to seek for remote precedents to justify the publication of the materials of contemporary history. Our own time has been fertile in great examples of it. For instance, the ‘Memoirs of Lord Palmerston,’ by Lord Dalling and Mr. Evelyn Ashley, are full of confidential correspondence on the secret discussions and resolutions of the Cabinet. The ‘Journal of Lord Ellenborough,’ recently published by Lord Colchester, contains the private record of a Cabinet Minister on the events of the day and the characters of his colleagues. The more recent publication of Lord Malmesbury’s ‘Autobiography,’ and of the Croker Papers, has made public a large amount of correspondence and information of great interest, with reference to the ministerial combinations and political transactions of the present century. And above all, Her Majesty Queen Victoria, by placing the papers of the late Prince Consort, and her own correspondence and journals, in the hands of Sir Theodore Martin, for the purpose of composing from the most authentic materials a full biography of that illustrious Prince, has shown that, far from regarding with distrust or repugnance the records of contemporary history, she has been graciously pleased to contribute to it in the most ample manner by the publication of an immense mass of documents relating to the interior of the Court, the intercourse of the Sovereign with her Ministers, the character of foreign monarchs, the less known transactions of her reign, and even the domestic incidents of her life. No Sovereign ever courted more fully and more willingly the light of publicity on a reign which needs no concealment or disguise.

It would be presumptuous to compare the Journals of an individual who never held any important office in the State, and who derived his knowledge of public affairs entirely from the intercourse of private friendship, with the correspondence and private records of sovereigns, ministers, and statesmen of the highest rank, which have been published with their sanction or with that of their immediate successors. These Journals advance no such pretension; but the production of so many confidential documents of contemporary or recent history by such personages may be fairly invoked to justify, à fortiori, the publication of notes and memoranda of a humbler character.

The incidents and opinions which will be found in these volumes derive their chief value from the fact that they are recorded by a bystander and spectator, who was not, and did not aspire to be, an actor in the occurrences he witnessed, but who lived on terms of intimacy with many of the most active politicians of his times, in both the leading parties in the State, although he strictly belonged to neither of them, and was wholly indifferent to mere party interests.

Mr. Greville himself, in communicating a portion of his manuscripts to one of his friends, wrote of them in the following terms:—

You will find the greater part political, not often narrative; mostly allusions and comments on passing events, the details of which were not notorious and accessible; some miscellanea of a different description, personal, social, official; you will find public characters freely, flippantly perhaps, and frequently very severely dealt with; in some cases you will be surprised to see my opinions of certain men, some of whom, in many respects, I may perhaps think differently of now. Gibbon said of certain Pagan philosophers, that ‘their lives were spent in the pursuit of truth and the practice of virtue.’ I cannot boast of having passed my life in the practice of virtue, but I may venture to say that I have always pursued truth; and you will see evidence of the efforts I have made to get at it, and to sum up conflicting statements of facts with a sort of judicial impartiality.

But although I am of opinion that the time has arrived when a further portion of these Journals may without impropriety be published, yet I am sensible that as the narrative draws nearer to the present time, and touches events occurring during the reign of the Sovereign who still happily occupies the throne, much more reticence is required of an Editor than he felt in speaking of the two last reigns, which belong altogether to past history. There were in the records of those reigns topics of scandal and topics of ridicule, already familiar to the world, which cast a shadow over those pages, and the more so as they were true. In narrating the earlier passages of the reign of Queen Victoria, no such incidents occur. The Court was pure; the persons of the Sovereign and her Consort profoundly respected. The monarchy itself has been strengthened in the last forty-eight years by a strict adherence to the principles of moral dignity and constitutional government. Nothing is to be found in any part of these Journals to impugn that salutary impression; and they will afford to future generations no unworthy picture of those who have played the most conspicuous part in the last half century.

Nevertheless, the delicacy and caution which ought to be observed in recording the language and the actions of eminent persons, some of whom are still alive, appear to me to prescribe the omission, at the present time, of some passages that may more fitly be published hereafter. Accordingly, I have exercised to some extent the discretionary powers entrusted to me by the Author with these manuscripts; and I have withheld from publication details which appeared to be of a strictly confidential character, or which related the conversations of living persons. In this respect I have again followed the example set by the illustrious precedents to which I have already referred. Lord Clarendon’s ‘History of the Great Rebellion,’ Bishop Burnet’s ‘History of His Own Time,’ the Duc de Saint-Simon’s ‘Memoirs,’ were all first published with large omissions from the text; and it is only in our own age—one or two centuries after the death of the writers—that these works have been made known to the world in their integrity from the original manuscripts. I know not if these Journals are destined to so long a life; they certainly do not lay claim to so great and lasting an historical and literary fame; but it is probable they will be read and referred to hereafter as a portion of the materials of history of England in this century.

The alternative lay between the entire suppression of the work for an indefinite period, and the publication of by far the larger portion of it with the omission of a few passages which touched too nearly on our contemporaries. Upon the whole, the latter course appears to me the most consistent with the duty I accepted from the Author, and which I owe to the public. It must not be supposed, however, that the passages which are omitted in this edition contain anything which it would be thought discreditable for the Author to have written or for the Editor to publish, or that they are of considerable extent or importance. These passages are simply withheld at the present time from motives of delicacy to persons still alive, or to their immediate descendants. I adhere to the opinion previously expressed by me, that the public conduct of those who, by their station or their offices must be regarded as public characters, needs no reticence or concealment.

An observation occurs in one of the later volumes of these Journals (which had previously escaped my notice) in which the Author remarks that much that he has written appears to him to be extremely dull, and that to avoid dullness the manuscript should be carefully revised before it is made public. I have not the same dread of dullness which affected Mr. Greville. A passage may be found to contain something of interest hereafter, though it is not amusing, and at the worst the reader can pass it by. Nor do I attach importance to the amusement the public may derive from this work. The volumes now published may be less attractive to some readers than those which preceded them, for they relate to less dissipated and distracted times; but they are, I think, more instructive because they are marked by a deeper insight into political history.

In conclusion, I may remark that the present publication embraces a period of fourteen years, extending from the accession of Her Majesty Queen Victoria in 1837 to the coup d’état of Napoleon III. in 1851. The latest events recorded in these pages are separated from us by an interval of about thirty-four years. The occurrences which took place after the close of 1851, the subsequent establishment of the Imperial power in France, the formation of the Cabinet of Lord Aberdeen, followed in 1853 by the Crimean War, mark an important epoch in the history of this country and of Europe. I have therefore thought that this date is the appropriate conclusion of this portion of the work. Mr. Greville continued his Journal for nine years more, until the close of 1860, though in his later years he was less conversant with public affairs than he had been in the more active period of his life. Should life and health be vouchsafed to me, I shall endeavour to complete the task he confided to my care by the publication of one or two concluding volumes at no distant period.

HENRY REEVE.

⁂ The notes in brackets are by the Editor, those without brackets by the Author.

CORRECTIONS

The following inaccuracies have been remarked whilst these sheets were passing through the press:—

Vol. ii, p. 37, the Duke of Wellington sate in Sir Robert Peel’s Cabinet of 1841 without office. Sir E. Knatchbull was Paymaster-General with a seat in the Cabinet.

Vol. ii, p. 60, line 18, for Emerson Tennent read Tennant.

Vol. ii, p. 72, for Sir George Grey in the text and note read Sir Charles Grey.

Vol. ii, p. 113, the Rev. William Capel was Vicar, not Rector, of Watford, and Rector of Raine.

Vol. ii, p. 126, last line but two, for any read my.

Vol. ii, p. 194, last two lines, for Moore O’Farrell read More O’Ferrall.

Vol. ii, p. 372, the battles of Moodkee and Ferozeshah were fought in December 1845, before, not after, the battle of Aliwal.

Vol. iii, p. 108, line 12, for Machale read MacHale.

Vol. iii, p. 218, note¹, line 2, for Gotto read Goito.

Contents of the First Volume

CHAPTER I.

The New Reign — Character of William IV — Political Effects of the King’s Death — Candidates for Office — Lord Durham — The King’s Funeral — The Elections — The Whigs and O’Connell — First Impression of a Railroad — Lord Stanley at Knowsley — The King of Hanover — Return to London — Result of the Elections — Liberality of the Queen — Princess Lieven’s Audiences — Conservative Reaction in the Counties — The Queen and Lord Munster — State of Parties in the New Parliament — The Corn Laws — The Poor Laws — Tory-Radicals — Promise of the Queen’s Character — Her Self-Possession — Queen Victoria and Queen Adelaide — The Queen and Lord Melbourne — Mango wins the St. Leger — Racing Reflexions — Death of Lord Egremont — The Court of Victoria — Conservatism of the Whigs — Radical Discontent — Irish Policy of the Government — Mr. Disraeli’s First Speech — Lord Brougham’s Isolation — Radical Politics — Lord Melbourne and Lord Brougham — The Canada Debates — The Use of a Diary — Duke of Wellington on Canada — On his own Despatches — On the Battle of Salamanca — King Ernest in Hanover — English Manor Houses — Festivities at Belvoir Castle — Life at Belvoir — Reflexions — Beaudesert — Death of Lord Eldon.

CHAPTER II.

Debates on the Canada Bill — Moderation of the Duke of Wellington — State of Canada — Lord Durham’s Position — Weakness of the Government — Parallel of Hannibal and the Duke of Wellington — The Ballot — Lord Brougham on the Ballot — Position of the Government — Policy of Sir Robert Peel — Death of Mr. Creevey — Knighthood of General Evans — Lord Brougham’s Conversation — A Skirmish in the House of Commons — Defeat of Government — Skirmish in the House of Lords — Annoyance of Peel at these Proceedings — Brougham’s Anti-Slavery Speech — Opposition Tactics — Brougham on the Coolie Trade — Ministerial Success — Sir Robert Peel’s Tactics — Composition of Parties — A Dinner at Buckingham Palace — Men of Science — The Lord Mayor at a Council — The Queen at a Levée — The Guiana Apprentices — Small v. Attwood reversed — Character of the Queen — Wilkie’s Picture of the ‘First Council’ — Small v. Attwood — Immediate Emancipation — Birthday Reflexions — Lord Charles Fitzroy turned out — Vote on Lord Durham’s Expenses — Lord Durham’s Irritation — Wolff the Missionary — Newmarket — The Coronation — Lord Brougham’s Reviews.

CHAPTER III.

A Ball at the Palace — Aspect of Foreign Affairs — Irish Tithe Bill — Debate on Sir T. Acland’s Motion — Death of Prince Talleyrand — Death and Character of Lady Harrowby — Government defeated on Emancipation of Slaves — Dispute of Mr. Handley and Lord Brougham — Dinner at Lambeth — Arrangement of Irish Questions — Settlement of Irish Questions — O’Connell declines the Rolls — Naval Intervention in Spain — Duke of Wellington’s Moderation — Marshal Soult arrives — Preparations for the Coronation of Queen Victoria — The Wellington Statue — The Coronation — Coleridge and John Sterling — Lord Durham’s Mission to Canada — Lord Brougham contrasted with the Duke — Macaulay on his return from India — Soult in London — Duke of Sussex quarrels with Ministers — Lord Burghersh’s Opera — High Church Sermons — Lord Palmerston and Mr. Urquhart — The Ecclesiastical Discipline Bill — The Duke’s Despatches — Macaulay’s Plan of Life — Lord Durham’s Canada Ordinance — Mr. Barnes — Canada Indemnity Bill — Lord Durham’s Ordinance disallowed — Irish Corporation Bill — Review of the Session

CHAPTER IV.

The Queen and Lord Melbourne — The Battersea Schools — A Council at Windsor — A Humble Hero — Lord Durham’s Resignation — Duke of Wellington’s Campaigns — The Grange — Lord Durham’s Return — Death of Lord Sefton — Lord Durham’s Arrival — His Reception in the Country — Position of the Radicals — A Visit to Windsor Castle — Lord Brougham’s ‘Letter to the Queen’ — Lord Durham repudiates the Radicals — A Lecture at Battersea — Dinner at Holland House — Curran and George Ponsonby — Prospect of the New Year — The Petition of the Serjeants-at-Law — Reconciliation with Lord Durham — Murder of Lord Norbury — The Corn Laws attacked — Lord Palmerston and the ‘Portfolio’ — The Serjeants’ Case — Brougham and Lyndhurst ‘done up’ — Opening of the Session — Resignation of Lord Glenelg — State of Parties — Lord Durham’s Report — Lord Glenelg’s Retirement — Lord Normanby, Colonial Minister — Corn Law Repeal — Sir Francis Bond Head — Gore House — Lady Blessington

CHAPTER V.

Opening of the Session — Lady Flora Hastings — Bulwer’s ‘Richelieu’ — Changes at the Colonial Office — Attack on Lord Normanby’s Irish Administration in the Lords — General Aspect of Affairs — The ‘Morning Chronicle’ — Death of Lord de Ros — Precarious Position of the Government — Views of Lord John Russell — A doubtful Question — Conciliatory Conversation with Sir James Graham — Attitude of the Whig Party — Peel’s cold Reception of the Proposal — Result of the Debate — Attitude of Lord John Russell — Language of the Radical Party — Conciliation — Change of Feeling in the Country — Duke of Newcastle dismissed from the Lord Lieutenancy — Lord John Russell’s Letter — Jamaica Bill — Defeat of the Jamaica Bill — Resignation of Ministers — The Queen retains the Ladies of her Household — Conduct of the Whigs — End of the Crisis — The Truth of the Story

CHAPTER VI.

The Whigs retain the Government — Motives of the Queen — Decision of Ministers — Lord Brougham’s Excitement — Ministerial Explanations — State of Affairs in Parliament — Lord Brougham’s great Speech on the Crisis — Duke of Wellington’s Wisdom and Moderation — Visit of the Grand Duke Alexander — Macaulay returns to Parliament — Disappointment of the Radicals — The Radicals appeased — Visit to Holland House — Anecdotes of George Selwyn — False Position of the Whigs — Downton Castle — Payne Knight — Malvern — Troy House — Castles on the Wye — Tintern Abbey — Bath — Salisbury Cathedral — Death of Lady Flora Hastings — Violent Speech of the Duke — Conversation with the Duke of Wellington — Lord Clarendon’s début in the House of Lords — Lord Brougham attacks Lord Normanby — His fantastic Conduct — Pauper School at Norwood

CHAPTER VII.

Review of the Session — Ministerial Changes — Effect of Changes in the Government — A Greenwich Dinner — Dover Dinner to the Duke of Wellington — A Toast from Ovid — Decay of Tory Loyalty — Unpopularity of Government — Brougham’s Letter to the Duke of Bedford — Character of John, Duke of Bedford — Brougham at the Dover Dinner — Brougham and Macaulay — The Duke’s Decline — Duke of Wellington consulted on Indian and Spanish Affairs — Baron Brunnow arrives in England — False Reports of Lord Brougham’s Death — Insulting Speeches of the Tories — Holland House — Lord Brougham and Lord Holland — The Queen’s Marriage is announced — Remarkable Anecdote of the Duke of Wellington — The Mayor of Newport at Windsor — Ampthill — Lord John Russell’s Borough Magistrates — Lord Clarendon’s Advice to his Colleagues — Prospects of the Government — Opening of the Session — Duel of Mr. Bradshaw and Mr. Horsman — Lord Lyndhurst’s View of Affairs — Prince Albert’s Household — The Privilege Question — Prince Albert’s Allowance — Precedence of Prince Albert — Lord John Russell and Sir Robert Peel — Judgement on the Newport Prisoners — A Vote of Want of Confidence moved — The Newport Prisoners — Prince Albert’s Precedency — Sir Robert Peel and his Party — Sir Robert Peel’s Speech and Declaration — Precedence Question — The Queen’s Marriage — Illness of the Duke of Wellington — The Precedence Question settled — The Duke opposed to Peel on the Privilege Question — Change in the Health of the Duke — Prince Albert’s Name in the Liturgy — Success of Pamphlet on Precedence — Judicial Committee Bill — Lord Dudley’s Letters — Amendment of Judicial Committee — King’s Sons born Privy Councillors, other Princes sworn — The Duke returns to London — Lord Melbourne’s Opinion on Journals

CHAPTER VIII.

The ex-King of Westphalia — The Duke of Wellington at Court — Failure of the Duke’s Memory — Dinner at Devonshire House to Royalties — Government defeated on Irish Registration Bill — The King of Hanover’s Apartments — Rank of Foreign Ministers — The Duchess of Inverness — War with China — Murder of Lord William Russell — Duke of Wellington on the China War — Weakness of Government — Duke of Wellington’s Conduct towards the Government — The Queen shot at — Examination of the Culprit — Retrospect of Affairs — Conciliatory Policy — Advantages of a Weak Government — The Eastern Question — Lord Palmerston’s Daring and Confidence — M. Guizot and Mr. Greville — Pacific Views of Louis Philippe — M. Guizot’s Statement of the Policy of France — Growing Alarm of Ministers — Alarm of Prince Metternich — Lord John Russell disposed to resist Palmerston — History of the Eastern Negotiation — A Blunder of M. Guizot — Important Conversation with Guizot — Conflict between Lord John Russell and Lord Palmerston — Energetic Resolution of Lord John — Lord Palmerston holds out — Conciliatory Proposals of France — Interview with Lord Palmerston and Lord John

CHAPTER IX.

The Cabinet meets — The Government on the verge of Dissolution — The Second Cabinet — Palmerston lowers his Tone in the Cabinet — But continues to bully in the Press — Taking of Beyrout — Deposition of Mehemet Ali — Lord John acquiesces — Total Defeat of Peace Party — Lord John Russell’s False Position — His Views — Lord Granville’s Dissatisfaction — Further Attempts at Conciliation — Prevarication of Lord Ponsonby — Newspaper Hostilities — Discussion of the French Note of the 8th October — Guizot’s Opinion of the Note of the 8th October — Louis Philippe’s Influence on the Crisis — Summary of Events — Death of Lord Holland — Lord Clarendon’s Regret for Lord Holland — M. Guizot’s Intentions as to France — Effects of the Queen’s Partiality for Melbourne — Resignation of Thiers — Bickerings in the Ministry — Lord John Russell’s Dissatisfaction with Lord Palmerston — Lord John resigns — Lord John demands the Recall of Lord Ponsonby — Lord Palmerston defends Lord Ponsonby — M. Guizot’s Policy — Conciliatory Propositions fail — Attitude of Austria — Asperity of Lord Palmerston — Operations in Syria — Success of Lord Palmerston and his Policy — Baron Mounier’s Mission to London — Birth of the Princess Royal — Results of the Success of Lord Palmerston’s Measures — The Tories divided in Opinion as to the Treaty — Retrospect of the Year — Lord Holland

CHAPTER X.

Successes in India, China, and Syria — The Hereditary Pashalik of Egypt — Lord Palmerston’s Hostility to France — Lord Palmerston and the Tories — His extraordinary Position — A Communication from M. Guizot — Death of the Duchess of Cannizzaro — Her History — Dinner with Lady Holland — Macaulay’s Conversation — Opening of the Session — A Sheriffs’ Dinner — Hullah’s Music Lecture — Tory Successes — Duke of Wellington ill — Irish Registration Bill — Opposed by the Conservatives — Conservative Government of Ireland — Petulance of Lord Palmerston — Double Dealing of Lord Palmerston — Ill Temper of the French — M. Dedel’s account of the State of Affairs — M. Dedel’s account corrected — Termination of the Disputes with France — Bad News from China — Hostility of the United States — The Sultan’s Hatti-sherif — The Hatti-sherif disapproved by some Ministers — Peel’s Liberality — The Hatti-sherif disavowed — The Bishop of Exeter left in the lurch — Poor Law Amendment Bill — Lord Granville’s Illness — Death of Mrs. Algernon Greville — Loss of ‘The President’ — Government defeated — China Troubles — Danger of the Government

APPENDIX.

The Royal Precedency Question

A JOURNAL

OF THE

REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA

FROM 1837 TO 1852.

CHAPTER I.

The New Reign — Character of William IV. — Political Effects of the King’s Death — Candidates for Office — Lord Durham — The King’s Funeral — The Elections — The Whigs and O’Connell — First Impression of a Railroad — Lord Stanley at Knowsley — The King of Hanover — Return to London — Result of the Elections — Liberality of the Queen — Princess Lieven’s Audiences — Conservative Reaction in the Counties — The Queen and Lord Munster — State of Parties in the New Parliament — The Corn Laws — The Poor Laws — Tory-Radicals — Promise of the Queen’s Character — Her Self-Possession — Queen Victoria and Queen Adelaide — The Queen and Lord Melbourne — Mango wins the St. Leger — Racing Reflexions — Death of Lord Egremont — The Court of Victoria — Conservatism of the Whigs — Radical Discontent — Irish Policy of the Government — Mr. Disraeli’s First Speech — Lord Brougham’s Isolation — Radical Politics — Lord Melbourne and Lord Brougham — The Canada Debates — The Use of a Diary — Duke of Wellington on Canada — On his own Despatches — On the Battle of Salamanca — King Ernest in Hanover — English Manor Houses — Festivities at Belvoir Castle — Life at Belvoir — Reflexions — Beaudesert — Death of Lord Eldon.

June 25th, 1837

I remember when George IV. died, seven years ago, having been struck by the small apparent sensation that his death created. There was, however, at that time a great deal of bustle and considerable excitement, which were caused by the activity of the new Court, and the eccentricities of the King; but in the present instance the Crown has been transferred to the head of the new Queen with a tranquillity which is curious and edifying. The first interest and curiosity to see the young Queen and observe her behaviour having passed off, there appears nothing more to do or to think about; there are no changes, and there is no talk of change. Her Majesty has continued quietly at Kensington, where she transacts business with her Ministers, and everything goes on as if she had been on the throne six years instead of six days. Animated panegyrics were pronounced upon the late King in both Houses of Parliament by those who had served him; and Peel repeated in the House of Commons, in more set phrases, the expressions of his admiration of the conduct of the Queen on her first public appearance, which he uttered to me when I saw him after the Council on Tuesday. Melbourne’s funeral oration over William IV. was very effective because it was natural and hearty, and as warm as it could be without being exaggerated. He made the most of the virtues the King undoubtedly possessed, and passed lightly over his defects.

King William IV., if he had been born in a private station, would have passed unobserved through life like millions of other men, looked upon as possessing a good-natured and affectionate disposition, but without either elevation of mind or brightness of intellect. During many years of his life the Duke of Clarence was an obscure individual, without consideration, moving in a limited circle, and altogether forgotten by the great world. He resided at Bushey with Mrs. Jordan, and brought up his numerous children with very tender affection: with them, and for them, he seemed entirely to live. The cause of his separation from Mrs. Jordan has not been explained, but it probably arose from his desire to better his condition by a good marriage, and he wanted to marry Miss Wykeham, a half-crazy woman of large fortune, on whom he afterwards conferred a Peerage. George IV., I believe, put a spoke in that wheel, fortunately for the Duke as well as for the country. The death of the Princess Charlotte opened to CHARACTER OF WILLIAM IV. him a new prospect, and the lack of royal progeny made his marriage as desirable an event to the public as it was convenient to himself. The subsequent death of the Duke of York, which made him heir to the throne, at once exalted him into a personage of political importance, and when the great Tory schism took place, upon the death of Lord Liverpool, Mr. Canning thought the Duke of Clarence’s appointment to the office of Lord High Admiral would strengthen his Government, and at the same time relieve him from some of the difficulties which beset him; and he accordingly prevailed upon the King to revive the office in his person. Soon after the Duke of Wellington’s elevation he found it necessary to remove the Duke of Clarence, and it is an excellent trait in the character of the latter that, notwithstanding his vexation at the time, which was very great, he harboured no resentment against the Duke of Wellington, and never seems to have hesitated about retaining him as his Minister when he came to the throne. His exaltation (for the moment) completely turned his head, but as his situation got familiar to him he became more composed and rational, if not more dignified in his behaviour. The moral and intellectual qualities of the King, however insignificant in themselves, now became, from their unavoidable influence, an object of great interest and importance, and in the early part of his reign he acquired no small share of popularity. People liked a King whose habits presented such a striking contrast to those of his predecessor. His attention to business, his frank and good-humoured familiarity, and his general hospitality, were advantageously compared with the luxurious and selfish indolence and habits of seclusion in the society of dull and grasping favourites which characterised the former reign.

The King seemed to be more occupied with the pleasing novelty of his situation, providing for his children, and actively discharging the duties of his high function, than in giving effect to any political opinions; and he took a correct view of his constitutional obligations, for although he continued his confidence to the Duke of Wellington unabated to the last, he transferred it as entirely to Lord Grey when the Whigs came in. He went on with his second Ministry as cordially as he had done with his first, nor does it appear that he took fright at their extensive plans of reform when they were first promulgated. He was probably bit by the popularity which the Reform Bill procured him, and it was not until he had gone too far to recede with safety that he was roused from his state of measureless content and unthinking security. The roar of the mighty conflict which the Reform Bill brought on filled him with dismay, and very soon with detestation of the principles of which he had unwittingly permitted himself to be the professor and the promoter; and as these feelings and apprehensions were continually stimulated by almost all the members of his family, legitimate and illegitimate, they led him into those unavailing struggles which embroiled him with his Ministers, rendered him obnoxious to the Liberal party, compromised the dignity of the Crown and the tranquillity of the country, and grievously embittered the latter years of his life. But although King William was sometimes weak, sometimes obstinate, and miserably deficient in penetration and judgement, he was manly, sincere, honest, and straightforward. The most painful moment of his life, and the greatest humiliation to which a king ever submitted, must have been when he again received the Whig Ministers in 1835; but it is to the credit of Lord Melbourne, as well as of the King, that their subsequent personal intercourse was not disagreeable to either, and greatly to the King’s honour that he has never been accused or suspected of any underhand or indirect proceeding for the purpose of emancipating himself from a thraldom so galling. Of political dexterity and artifice he was altogether incapable, and although, if he had been false, able, and artful, he might have caused more perplexity to his Whig Government and have played a better party game, it is perhaps fortunate for the country, and certainly happy for his own reputation, that his virtues thus predominated over his talents. The most remarkable foible of the late King was his passion for speechifying, and I POLITICAL EFFECTS OF THE KING’S DEATH. have recorded some of his curious exhibitions in this way. He had considerable facility in expressing himself, but what he said was generally useless or improper. He never received the homage of a Bishop without giving him a lecture; and the custom he introduced of giving toasts and making speeches at all his dinners was more suitable to a tavern than to a palace. He was totally deficient in dignity or refinement, and neither his elevation to the throne nor his association with people of the most distinguished manners could give him any tincture of the one or the other. Though a good-natured and amiable man, he was passionate and hasty, and thus he was led into those bickerings and quarrels with the Duchess of Kent and with his own children, which were a perpetual source of discomfort or disgrace to him, and all of which might have been avoided by a more consistent course of firmness and temper on his part. His sons generally behaved to him with great insolence and ingratitude, except Adolphus. Of the daughters I know nothing.

The various political hopes, fears, and expectations which his death has raised may be very shortly summed up. Nobody can deny that it has given the Whig Government a great advantage over the Tories. Hitherto the Government have been working against the stream, inasmuch as they had the influence of the Crown running dead against them; the tide has now turned in their favour, and to a certain degree they will be able to convert the Tory principle to their own advantage. The object of the Whigs is to remain in office, to put down the Radicals and Radicalism, and go on gradually and safely reforming; above all to proceed as fast as the innumerable difficulties which impede their course will let them, in bringing Ireland into a state of quiet and contentment, and to pave the way for some definite settlement of the great questions which distract that country. This I believe to be the object of Lord Melbourne and Lord John Russell, but at the same time they have colleagues and supporters who have more extensive and less moderate views, and who would like to see the Government more cordially allied to the Radicals than it is, and who are so animated against the Tories that they would do anything to prevent their return to power.[1]

[1] [A list of Lord Melbourne’s second Administration will be found in the first part of this work, vol. iii. p. 256. It had undergone no change since 1835, except that the Great Seal, which had been put in commission, was now held by Lord Cottenham.]

The great body of the Tories, on the other hand, are thirsting for office: they are, or pretend to be, greatly alarmed at the Radical tendencies of the Government, but they are well aware that in the actual state of the House of Commons they have the power of keeping the Government in check and of defeating every Radical scheme while in opposition, but that it would be dangerous to attempt to turn them out and take their places. So far from being satisfied with this position of exceeding strength and utility, they are chafing and fuming that they can’t get in, and would encounter all the hazards of defeat for the slightest chance of victory. It is only the prudent reserve of Peel (in which Stanley and Graham probably join) that restrains the impatience of the party within moderate bounds. The Radicals are few in number, and their influence is very low; they are angry with the Government for not making greater concessions to them, but as they still think there is a better chance of their views being promoted by the Whigs remaining in, they continue to vote with them in cases of need, though there are some of them who would prefer the dissolution of the Ministry and war with a Tory Government rather than the present imperfect alliance which subsists between themselves and the Whigs. The Whigs then expect to gain by the new elections and to obtain an accession of strength to their Government. They think the popularity of a new reign, and the partial neutrality of the Tory principle, will be of material advantage to their cause. The Tories, though they maintain that they shall not lose at the elections, evidently feel that they take the field under a great disadvantage, and do not deny that the King’s death has been a heavy blow to them as a party.

June 29th, 1837

All the accounts continue to report well of LORD DURHAM. the young Queen, of her quickness, sense and discretion, and the remarkable facility with which she has slid into her high station and discharges its duties. The Duchess of Kent never appears at Kensington, where the Queen occupies a separate range of apartments, and her influence is very silently exercised, if at all. The town is rife with reports of changes and appointments, some very natural and others very absurd; all agree that the power vested in Melbourne’s hands is unbounded, and that (as far as Court appointments are concerned) he uses it with propriety. The great topic of interest is the question of Lord Hill’s removal,[2] which the Radicals and violent Whigs have been long driving at, but to which it is believed Melbourne is himself adverse. So Lord Stanley told me the other day as his belief; and when I said that though this might be so, it was doubtful how far he would be induced to fight the battle in his own Cabinet if it was mooted there, he said that from what he heard, he thought Melbourne was lord and master in his own Cabinet.

[2] [Lord Hill held the office of Commander-in-Chief from 1828 till 1842, when he resigned it.]

The eternal question in everybody’s mouth is what is Lord Durham to have, or if it is indispensable that he should have anything. When Durham left England, he was the elected chief of the Radicals, and he was paving the way to future Court favour through a strict alliance with the Duchess of Kent and Sir John Conroy. At St. Petersburg his language was always moderate; now that he is returned, the Radicals, still regarding him as their chief, look anxiously to his introduction into the Cabinet. Charles Buller, whom I met the other day, said, in reply to my asking him if Government would gain at the elections, ‘I think they will gain anyhow, but if they are wise they will gain largely.’ I said, ‘I wonder what you call being wise?’ He said, ‘Take in Lord Durham.’ But they want Durham to be taken in as a pledge of the disposition of the Government to adopt their principles,[3] whereas Melbourne will receive him upon no such terms; and if Durham takes office, he must subscribe to the moderate principles upon which both Melbourne and John Russell seem disposed to act. After all, it appears to me that a mighty fuss is made about Durham without any sufficient reason, that his political influence is small, his power less, and that it is a matter of great indifference whether he is in office or out.

[3] After this was written, a letter of Durham’s appeared couched in vague but conservative language, and without any allusion to the Ballot or the Radical desiderata.

July 9th, 1837

Yesterday I went to the late King’s funeral, who was buried with just the same ceremonial as his predecessor this time seven years. It is a wretched mockery after all, and if I were king, the first thing I would do should be to provide for being committed to the earth with more decency and less pomp. A host of persons of all ranks and stations were congregated, who ‘loitered through the lofty halls,’ chattering and laughing, and with nothing of woe about them but the garb. I saw two men in an animated conversation, and one laughing heartily at the very foot of the coffin as it was lying in state. The chamber of death in which the body lay, all hung with black and adorned with scutcheons and every sort of funereal finery, was like a scene in a play, and as we passed through it and looked at the scaffolding and rough work behind, it was just like going behind the scenes of a theatre. A soldier’s funeral, which I met in the morning—the plain coffin slowly borne along by his comrades, with the cap and helmet and sword of the dead placed upon it—was more impressive, more decent, more affecting than all this pomp with pasteboard crowns, and heralds scampering about, while idleness and indifference were gazing or gossiping round about the royal remains. I would rather be quietly consigned to the grave by a few who cared for me (if any such there might be) than be the object of all this parade and extravagance. The procession moving slowly through close ranks of Horse and Foot Guards holding tapers and torches in their hands, whilst at intervals the bands played a dead march, had, however, a very imposing effect. The service was intolerably long and tedious, and THE ELECTIONS. miserably read by the Dean of Windsor. The Queen Dowager, with the King’s daughters and her ladies, were in the Royal Closet, and the FitzClarences in the one adjoining. At twelve o’clock she was to depart for Bushey, and a bitter moment it must have been when she quitted for ever the Castle where she had spent seven years of prosperous and happy splendour.

We continue to hear of the young Queen’s admirable behaviour, but all other subjects are swallowed up in the interest of the approaching elections. There will be more contests than ever were known, and it is amusing to see both parties endeavouring to avail themselves of the Queen’s name, the Tories affecting to consider her as a prisoner in the hands of the Whigs, and the Whigs boasting of the cordiality and warmth of her sentiments in their favour. The Whigs have the best of this, as they have some evidence to show in support of their assertions, and the probability really is that she is well enough contented with them, as they naturally take care she should be. Of the probable changes, one of the most important is the defeat of Sir James Graham in Cumberland, an event which the Whigs hail with extreme satisfaction, for they hate him rancorously. I am under personal obligations to Graham, and therefore regret that this feeling exists; but it is not unnatural, and his political conduct is certainly neither creditable nor consistent. He is now little better than a Tory, a very high Churchman, and one of the least liberal of the Conservative leaders. In Lord Grey’s Government he was one of the most violent, and for going to greater lengths than the majority of his colleagues. When the Reform Bill was concocted by a committee consisting of John Russell, Duncannon, Durham, and Graham, Graham earnestly advocated the Ballot, and Lord Durham says he has in his possession many letters of Graham’s, in which he presses for a larger measure of reform than they actually brought forward. In his address he says he has not changed, and talks of ‘having belonged to the Whig Government before they had made the compact by which they are now bound to O’Connell.’ Tavistock[4] said to me yesterday that this was too bad, because he knew very well that the only understanding the Government had with O’Connell was one of mutual support in the Irish elections, the same which existed when he was in office; and, moreover, that at that time the majority of the Cabinet (Graham included) wanted to confer office upon O’Connell, and that they were only induced to forego that design by the remonstrances of Lord Lansdowne and the Duke of Richmond, who insisted upon a further probation before they did so. O’Connell got nothing, and soon after took to agitating and making violent speeches. This exasperated Lord Grey, who, in his turn, denounced him in the King’s Speech, and hence that feud between O’Connell and the Whigs, which was only terminated by the attempt of the Tories to retake office in 1835. This led to the imperfect alliance between them, half denied by the Whigs, which exposed the Government to as much obloquy as if they had concluded an open and avowed alliance with him, and perhaps to greater inconvenience. It was a great blunder not securing O’Connell in the first instance, and certainly a curious thing that such men as Lord Lansdowne, and still more the Duke of Richmond, should have influenced so important a matter and have overborne the opinions of the whole Cabinet. After all this, it is not extraordinary that his old associates should be disgusted at seeing Graham become a Tory champion, and at hearing him more bitter against them than any man on the Opposition benches. The Tories, on the other